ICLEI USA Commons

Developed in partnership with ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability USA after more than two years of engaging more than 100 partners, Orlando’s Voluntary Local Review, or “VLR”, builds on the City’s Green Works Orlando sustainability plan and aligns city programs and progress with a globally recognized framework for environmental, social and economic measurement.

VLRs are the local answer to the Voluntary National Reviews, which the UN asks nations to compile in support of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. VLRs aim to localize the 17 SDGs and 169 targets to the city-scale.

Orlando is the fourth U.S. city to release a VLR—and only the second medium-sized city—but joins a growing community of cities and regions internationally taking steps to support the Global Goals. From New York City, Pittsburgh, and Los Angeles in the United States to Buenos Aires, Bristol and Bonn abroad, have built their Voluntary Local Reviews into a vehicle for enhanced engagement locally, nationally and internationally. Cities and regions have been first responders to the COVID-19 crisis. The Orlando VLR is an exploration for systemic recovery, acting as a catalyst to involve all stakeholders in a way that creates ownership and cultivates incentives to advance our shared vision for social, economic and environmental prosperity.

This report can be useful for local actors seeking to align their programs with the SDGs or frame sustainability through the lens of environmental, social and economic prosperity.